


I'm Just Your Average, Ordinary, Everyday Superhero (DISCONTINUED)

by Clankit (orphan_account)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, I can't believe no one has used that tag before, It's gonna be a while, M/M, Minor Character(s), Minor Violence, On Indefinite Hiatus, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sidekick Dan, Superhero Phil, Superhero?, Superheroes, Superhomo, Violence, don't hold your breath, nah, superhero fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 12:01:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4665795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Clankit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan Howell was a normal guy. 23 years old, bisexual, not in college, and working at a coffee shop until he figured out what he wanted to do with his life. And then, his superhero genes were activated, and suddenly his apartment is getting paid for by the government, he makes too much money than he knows what to do with, and he’s the sidekick of the up-and-coming superhero Shock Wave, who also just happens to be his crush.</p><p>This work has been discontinued, as I've lost passion for it. To those who were around for the beginning, I hope it brought you some joy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

Dan was bored. Like, really, really, bored. Working the register was amazing and horrible. It was amazing because he didn’t have to really do any actual work, but horrible because he wasn’t moving around. Although Dan was often called lazy, because he was, he often needed to be drumming against a table, playing with something in his hands, or just plain dancing. The most he could do while working the register was tap his foot, and so he did.

Dan glanced at the TV, which was turned to some news channel. The reporter clearly was worried about something, but as the volume was turned all the way down, so he could forgot about that being a distraction. He then turned his attention to the few people who had wandered into the shop. Two guys were sitting at a table on their phones sipping coffee, a women was reading a book while waiting for her order, and-

Dan’s thoughts were interrupted with an ear shattering “BOOM” outside the front of the shop and the appearance of a small crater outside the front window. Everyone, including Dan, was shaken to their knees, and Dan would be lying if he said he wasn’t terrified.

After a second, Dan was able to stand up, and examine the damage. A chunk of the wall was on the floor, and looking through it Dan could see the equally frightened people in the bookstore next door. The women had already ran screaming outside, with the two guys and any other customers following closely behind. Dan tried to call out and see if his co workers were still in the store, but he was interrupted by another boom and was yet again shaken to his knees. This time, chunks of the ceiling fell, and Dan, pretty sure that anyone who was still alive had gotten the hell out of there. Time for Dan to do the same.

But when Dan turned to leave through the back door, he found it was blocked by debris. That meant Dan would have to use the front entrance. And Dan was pretty sure that there currently a battle (while no doubt epic) going on between a superhero and a super villain.

Dan peered out the front door, and when he didn’t instantly die, rushed outside and stuck close to the wall. The few remaining people in the area were rushing away from the scene, and Dan was about to do the same, when he heard a “Well, what do we have here?”

Dan turned to face the person he had had nightmares about as a child.

_Nightshade._

Nightshade was London’s oldest villain. As in, literally oldest. He was (at least the authorities think) 38 years old, but he had come to London when he was about 28, and Dan was about 10. Dan didn’t know why Nightshade terrified him. Maybe it was his suit? Purple and black were dark colors. But… black was Dan’s favorite color, so that probably wasn’t it. His powers were a bit creepy. Energy blasts, energy shields, flight, poison shards... But it was probably Nightshade’s attitude.

Nightshade was just so… cocky. Flirty. Dark. That was it, he was almost nice. But he was a villain. He killed people. His actual death count was 16, and only two were in person, but he had seriously wounded many people. And Nightshade was occasionally more like an actual villain, with the torturing and the kidnapping.

So when Dan came face to face with his nightmare, he was too terrified to do anything, let alone run away.

“You seem like a good hostage.” And then Nightshade grabbed him by the arm, and, oH FuCk Dan was now thirty feet in the air. Dan grabbed Nightshade’s arm with his free hand, because if Nightshade let go of him Dan would fall to his very painful death.

And then Dan looked up (well, not actually up, but just stopped looking at the ground), and then he saw him.

Shock Wave.

Shock Wave was yet another super, but a much newer one. He had only been fighting Nightshade for 6 months, but already it was clear they were nemesis. And, he was also the person than Dan had a crush on.

Hey, it wasn’t his fault. Shock Wave was just pretty cute. Like, really cute, with his black fringe and blue eyes that you could go swimming in…. Ahem. He was also a pure ray of sunshine, which was funny, because his powers were based around electricity. Every time Dan had seen him appear on TV, he had just been the sweetest super hero ever. So, yes, Dan had a little crush on him.

So, there Dan was. Being carried by the person that haunted his dreams, and twenty feet in the air away from him was the star of many of his more… personal dreams.

Dan was glad that he left his phone at his apartment, because he was pretty sure that if it had been in his pocket it would’ve fallen out long ago, and Dan could not take another surprise today.

Nightshade was saying something, and Shock Wave had moved closer, and now Dan was being swung around slightly. Dan found it in himself to shriek and grip Nightshade’s arm tighter. Suddenly Nightshade raised his left arm, the one that wasn’t gripping Dan, and fired what Dan assumed what poison shards from his hand. And ooo, they just hit Shock Wave, and he isn’t looking too hot now.

And hOLY SHIT DAN IS IN THE AIR NOW WHAT HAPPENED OH DEAR LORD IN HEAVEN PLEASE SAVE HI-

Oh, Shock Wave caught him, he’s fine. But Shock Wave isn’t, because now they are slowly falling towards the ground, and Shock Wave just managed to set Dan down before collapsing on the ground.

 _Oh god Shock Wave is going to die isn’t he._ Dan’s thoughts were not happy ones as he stared at the man, who was now lying on his back and heaving in breaths as the poison from the shards that were stuck into his stomach started to steep in.

Dan had no idea what he was doing, but he knew it would be irresponsible of him to let a hero die in front of him without at least trying to save him.

Dan kneeled on his knees and shuffled towards the man, who now had his eyes closed in pain. Dan peered down at Shock Wave's stomach and gripped one of six shards lodged into his stomach. And, with his eyes closed in fear, pulled it out. Dan immediately dropped the shard on the ground and opened his eyes. Well, now there wasn’t a shard of poison in his stomach, but now there was an open wound. Ugh, should he take the rest of the shards out or leave them in? Dan rested his hand on the man’s stomach, and then it happened.

Dan’s hand started to glow, and so did Shock Wave’s now open wound, and suddenly, it was gone. And now the other shards that had been lodged into his stomach were like a huge splinter that could be pulled out by a child.

Dan stared at his hand, and then at Shock Wave’s stomach, and then at his hand again.

What the fuck had just happened?

That was how the authorities found Dan 5 minutes later, kneeling beside a now sleeping Shock Wave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title was taken from Smash Mouth's song, but it was not in any way inspired by it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan was in shock.

Dan was in shock. An SSD (Super Security Department) officer had gotten there and immediately asked Dan what he was doing and what had happened. Then a whole squad of them had shown up, and they had picked up Shock Wave and put him on a stretcher before carrying him into a vehicle. To Dan’s surprise, they had forced Dan into the vehicle as well. No one had asked him any more questions so far, but the few people in there were staring at him. Dan was of course too freaked out (he totally wasn’t shy nope not at all shut up) to say anything, but after 15 minutes of this awkward silence he managed to speak.

“Where are we going?” And of course at the moment the vehicle screeched to a halt, and three out of the five SSD officers stood up and proceeded to surround Shock Wave’s stretcher.  One of the remaining officers, a black woman with dark brown hair, nodded at them. The back door of the vehicle (Dan was pretty sure it was a car at first, but judged by the stuff inside he wasn’t thoroughly convinced that it wasn’t a mini tank) opened, and the three officers proceeded to lift the stretcher out onto the ground, and then the back door shut again.

Dan turned to face the remaining two officers and found that instead of sitting across from him strapped into their seats, they were now towering over him. Dan’s seat belt was starting to dig into his side, but he was pretty sure if he made a sudden movement he mind find himself in a state similar to Shock Wave’s.

“Your name is Dan Howell, correct?” The man to the woman’s right asked, and Dan nodded his head.

“Dan Howell, have you ever shown signs of being a super before?”

“Wh-what?” Why was she asking if he had superpowers? Of course he didn’t! Otherwise they would’ve shown up at an early age and Dan would’ve gone to a super high school and to a super college. Right? Right?

“Shock Wave was hit by six of Nightshade’s poison shards. That should’ve heavily wounded him, and probably not killed him, as Nightshade prefers to keep his nemeses alive. For some time. But he was breathing fine, and very little poison managed to enter his bloodstream. A shard had already been pulled out, and as you were the only one nearby, it had to be you who pulled it out. The only way someone could’ve pulled out one of Nightshade’s shards with their bare hands and not gotten poisoned themselves if if they had a protection power of at least 6. But for someone to be able to heal Shock Wave’s wounds and render the shards almost completely harmless…” Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at her clipboard, before looking up at Dan. “They would’ve had to have had a healing power of at least an 8. Dan Howell, you are a very powerful super.”

Dan stared at her. Was she serious? She must be. Well, that did explain why Dan’s hand had glowed and so had Shock Wave’s stomach. And a healing power of 8? On the 1-10 scale for powers, the highest ever recorded was a 9. So an 8 was amazing. But… what did this mean for Dan? “So… What does this mean for me?”

“Well, usually we would have you enroll at a supercollege, but you’re currently not enrolled at anywhere, and you’ve already exhibited that you can control your powers. So, what we’re going to do first is take you back to our main building and scan you to see if you exhibit any other powers.” Dan gulped as the women started quietly talking to the man beside her and the car/mini-tank started up again.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan could not believe this. He was still wearing his apron, and here he was, laying down on some fancy table so that he could get scanned for more superpowers. And until half an hour ago, he did not know that he had any.

Dan glanced at the man and the women who had been in the car and then led him to this room. Originally he had thought that a machine would be scanning him, but they had told him that a super would be scanning him.

A brown haired guy wearing a labcoat and glasses. The man and the women in the room stared at him, and he smiled sheepishly back. “‘I’m so sorry I’m late. I was-” he groaned a couple of the papers in his arm slipped onto the ground. He bent down to pick them up before setting them down on a table and walking over to where Dan was lying down on a table of his own. “My name’s Eric, and I will be scanning you for powers.” He straightened his glasses. “This may tingle a bit.” He then reached out his hands and closed his eyes. Dan felt his body tingle for a second before he started to float up into the air. Wait, was Eric doing that? It didn’t feel like he was. 

Eric opened one eye. “Sorry. I’m still getting used to controlling my powers, and sometimes I accidentally activate some of them.”

Half a minute later, Dan gently floated back down onto the table, and Eric wiped his hands on his labcoat and smiled. Again. This guy was honestly a little bit creepy he was so cheerful. “Well, you’re done!” But, instead of telling Dan his powers he walked over to a clipboard (that had seemingly appeared out of no where) and scribbled some stuff down. He then picked up his papers and walked out of the room, to Dan’s relief.

“Is… Is he always like that?” Dan asked.

The man next to the women (Dan had dubbed her ‘Scary SSD Lady) snorted, but stopped when she glared at him. “Eric’s used to dealing with kids, so he’s usually pretty cheerful.” He then walked over and glanced at the clipboard Eric had scribbled on. “Your powers are… Immunity level 7, Group Healing level 3, Healing level 8, Average Flight- oooo! Minor Wound Transferring, and… Energy Blasts level 5.” He turned to face Scary SSD Lady. “So, he’d probably fit the position, right?”

She sighed and nodded,  and at that moment the door behind Dan opened. As Dan started to slide off the table, he almost fell off when he heard the person who had entered speak. “So, is this him?”

Dan turned to face the man, and, yep, it was Shock Wave. Wait, had Shock Wave been talking about him?

“Yes.” the women nodded.

“What are you talking about?” Dan totally did not wish that he wasn’t wearing an apron and was instead wearing a sexy suit.

Shock Wave smiled, and Dan would’ve sworn angels sang at that moment. “Well, um, well… You’re my new sidekick! If you want, of course.”

Dan stared at him. Wait, what was that? “Your sidekick?”

“Well, yeah. I’ve needed one, and I get hurt a lot, so you seem like you’d be a pretty good fit?” If Dan didn’t know better, he would’ve sworn that he seemed nervous. If anyone should’ve been nervous, it should be Dan. Of course he wanted to be Shock Wave’s sidekick, but… Was he good enough? He hoped so.

“Yes. Of course, yes! Yes. The answer’s yes.”

As Dan saw Shock Wave’s brilliant smile, and realized how truly blue Shock Wave’s eyes were up close, he wondered what he had gotten himself into.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So, my name’s Shock Wave. Well, at least my superhero name is. My real name is-”

"So, my name’s Shock Wave. Well, at least my superhero name is. My real name is-”

Scary SSD Lady cut Shock Wave off. “You can socialize later. Right now, we need to get Dan situated. And Shock Wave-” she glared at him, and Dan could guess that she wasn’t happy about the fact that he had almost told Dan his real name-”I think you should be resting.”

“But Dan healed me!” He protested, waving his hand vaguely towards Dan. “Oh, thank you so much for healing me.” Shock Wave said, turning back to Dan. “I was afraid that I was going to die, but thanks to you, I’m fine.” And then Shock Wave smiled at Dan, and yes, Dan had seen Shock Wave’s smile before, but this time the smile was directed at _him_ , and Dan was sure that if Shock Wave stood any closer to him Dan would melt into a pool of wanting.

“Oh-um, you’re welcome,” Dan mumbled out. “It was no problem, really.” Dan felt the heat in his cheeks, and when he heard Scary SSD Lady’s partner snicker, he was pretty sure everyone could see the blush in his cheeks.

“Lance!” Scary SSD Lady snapped at the man, who simply shrugged. She sighed, before turning back to Dan. “I’ll take Shock Wave to his lodging, where you two will meet us after the tour. She glared at Lance, before turning to Shock Wave, and Dan would’ve sworn her face softened as they walked out of the lab/medical place thingy.

“Is… Is she always like that?” Dan managed to ask Lance, because she seemed a bit more snappy than she had been in the car.

“Nah, it’s because you’re crushing on Shock Wave. Olivia has a bit of a crush herself, so…” Lance shrugged again, but Dan saw him try to hide a smirk as Dan blushed- again.

“Is it really that obvious?”

“Nope, it’s just me and Oli are trained a bit in reading people's emotions and stuff.” Lance motioned with his hand to follow him as he walked out of the lab, and so Dan did.

Dan looked around at the area they had walked too. It seemed a lot like his high school cafeteria. “So, this is the food court. You can come here at 7:00 AM, 1:30 PM, or 6:30 PM for the scheduled meals, but the kitchen’s over there.” Lance gestured towards a set of double doors, where a fiery redhead who Dan thought might be the superhero Firebug was talking to someone Dan didn’t know. “Mainly only supers eat here, but you might find some staff from the lab.

“What is this place?” Dan asked as they moved on, avoiding the glances some supposedly super heroes gave him as they walked by. You think they would’ve let him change out of his work outfit…

“To put it plainly, it’s the place where supers mainly live and where all testing and stuff goes on. One half is dedicated to what we call the Labs, and the other the Super Residence. This place is pretty big, so pay attention to the floor.” Dan looked at the floor and saw several lines painted on. “Green leads to here, yellow leads to super housing, and the blue one leads to the Labs half of the facility. You ever got lost, follow the red line.”

“Where does that one lead?”

“Eh, you’ll know when you get lost.” They followed the yellow line to an elevator. Stepping inside, Dan gaped at how many floors there were.

“10 floors?! But the ground floor seemed huge!”

“We have lots of stuff going on here. Residence is the only elevator that goes to all ten, as only three or four of the floors are used for other things.

“How many people live here!?”

“A lot. Supers, staff, reformed villains… Of course, a lot of rooms are empty and just waiting to be filled.”

“But… What about my apartment?” Even though it was tiny and squished, that place was home to Dan.

“Oh, you’ll still get to keep your apartment. You’ll have to stay here for at least two weeks, but we’ll pay for your apartment and stuff. Once you’re a sidekick that’s- oh, another thing. You may be fine with sidekick, but some of the more… touchy sidekicks call themselves companions. The thing is, if you want to be a superhero someday, not a sidekick, you need to be a sidekick to someone for at least two years and have your superhero approve you. Most sidekicks are fine staying sidekicks, as a lot of people prefer a duo, but some of them either have asshole superheros or have just been a sidekick for a really long time.” Lance pressed the button that would take them to the 8th floor.

“How can a superhero be mean?”

“Well, they’re just… Bitter, you know. Some of them lost their homes, and now live here full time. Most supers spend one week a month here, partially because it’s required once a month to spend a couple days here and partially to take a break.”

Dan hummed in fake understanding, and when the elevator opened with a ding he followed Lance out into the hallway.

“You’re in room 2118. Oh, just so you know, you’re rooming with Shock Wave. He’s been expecting to get a sidekick for a couple months, so… have fun with that.”

Before Dan could even blush, Lance opened the door and shoved him inside, where Olivia was leaning in towards Shock Wave, who Dan thinks might have been leaning fearfully backwards.

Both stared at Dan, and Dan stared back. Was he interrupting something? Should he leave? A couple seconds more passed before Shock Wave sprang towards Dan, and for a second Dan thought he was going to pull him into a bear hug. Dan started to smile at the thought, but stopped when he saw Olivia glare at him and the fact that it felt like it was burning holes in his eyes.

“Dan! You’re here!” Shock Wave again, and wow, was Shock Wave really so excited just to see him again? It had only been an hour or so… “We were just talking about you."

“Yes, we were.” Olivia had walked over, and although she was smiling, Dan knew that her eyes said die. “We were discussing your abilities. I had been about to tell Shock Wave something about how-” her mean tone faltered when she noticed how much Dan was quivering, and the fact that even though he was very tall compared to her he seemed to have shrunk down to the size of a walnut. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll see you two later.” She quickly fled the room, and when Dan turned back to face Shock Wave, he was surprised to find that their faces were extremely close together.

“So, I already know your name is Dan Howell, but you don’t know mine, and that doesn’t seem fair. My name’s Phil Lester.” He stuck out his hand, and Dan shook it.

Phil. That was a nice name. It suited Shock Wav- Phil. Rolled off the tongue, too, which would make it much easier to say in the showe-

 _No. That’s it. If I’m rooming with Phil, I can’t have this crush on him._ But as Phil showed him the living room and his bedroom and Dan’s bedroom (Dan was surprised to find most of his stuff had already been moved there), Dan was pretty sure that he wouldn’t be able to force his crush to go away.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I have posted anything recently, just found a new ship and I may or may not have gone a little crazy. Let me know what you guys think about this chapter, because I love creating this verse, it's just a bit hard to explain.
> 
> And I've got teeny tiny bit of a surprise for you. If you guys want to suggest superhero names for Dan, feel free to, and I might use it! I've already got an idea in mind, but I think you guys can probably come up with something better. I'll edit this note when the name has been chosen, and until the name is used in story I'll remind you guys that you can suggest names. If I like the name you suggest and decide to use it, I'll credit you in the chapter in which Dan's superhero name is first used!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phil was totally not watching Dan in his sleep, no way.

Phil was totally not watching Dan in his sleep, no way. That would’ve just been creepy. He wasn’t doing it, so it didn’t matter anyways. He was just observing Dan to see if he had any bizarre sleep patterns or something.

Phil sighed into the almost empty room and stood up from the spare chair in Dan’s room. It had been so risky to sneak in here. What if Dan had heard him?

Phil glanced around the room with a frown. It was so bare. Phil knew it would be bare, since he knew what a spare room would look like. Soon, if all went well, Dan would make this room into his own. But for now, the depressing gray walls and basic brown furniture stared back at Phil. Phil shook his head to clear his thoughts and trotted back out into the hallway, glancing one more time at Dan’s sleeping figure before shutting the door with a quiet  _ click _ .

Phil’s bedroom, on the other hand, was personalized so much you would think it had never been designed to be basic. He had painted over the walls with a cheerful sky blue, but the walls were covered with so many posters you could barely tell. Phil had lugged his wicker bed all the way, not that it was that difficult, being a superhero and all, but it was time consuming. Phil just didn’t feel at home without it, even though he probably would’ve been fine if he had just brought his plaid blanket over. On his desk sat a black laptop with a pair of headphones still attached, and his tabs open to research on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and how many superheros were in relationships with their sidekicks (according to the internet, all of them were). His stuffed lion sat on his bedside drawer, as well as a book about how to deal with being a superhero.

Phil looked longingly at his green and blue plaid covers. When you were a superhero, you got barely any sleep. You could be woken up in the middle of the night, even though there was plenty of other superheroes who could probably fight just as well as you, if not better. But you were assigned a villain, or a group of villains, or an organization, and you were expected to stick with it. Personally, Phil had been hoping to be assigned to a group of supervillains, since that met he would be working on a team. But alas, that wasn’t what fate had wanted, and he had been assigned Nightshade instead.

Nightshade was a very interesting character, or at least in Phil’s personal opinion. 

He flirted with Phil, or Shock Wave, almost every chance he got. He was constantly teasing him, making jokes at Shock Wave’s or his own expense, and saying that when they weren’t fighting they should go out for a drink sometime. 

And Phil genuinely enjoyed it. Really, he did. He enjoyed their banter, their almost friendly conversations, as if they weren’t constantly attacking each other. If Phil had met Nightshade in another life, they probably would’ve been friends. Best friends, maybe. Boyfriends, even. Phil wasn’t going to deny that Nightshade was physically appealing. He was pretty, but not cute. He was handsome, but not in a way that made Phil’s toes curl. Not in the way Dan made Phil hot and bothered.

Phil almost slapped himself in the face as he walked back out into the hallway.

What the hell was wrong with him?! He had just gotten a new sidekick, his very first sidekick, and here he was going on in his head about how hot the guy was?! Was Phil trying to get fired?!

Phil shivered at that thought. Getting fired for a superhero was a terrible, terrible thing. You didn’t get a slap on the wrist and a pile of money for being fired. Best case scenario, you get to live a civilian life with the SSD watching  you full time. You couldn’t go into any government related jobs, and if your powers went off even once you were taken back to the Super Residence. You had to live there, but could still have a job. It was okay, for the most part. Just really boring.

Of course, that’s if you were peacefully fired, like you accidentally damaged one too many buildings and didn’t listen to your warnings.

Not if you went Psycho.

Not Psycho like you went insane. Then you were sent to to Jedding’s Super Asylum, a facility in America that had the best treatment for insane superheroes anywhere. Created by supers, run by supers, for supers.

No, when people talked about going Psycho, they were talking about the old superhero Psycho, a superhero who had had some of the best psychic powers the world had ever seen. He was the first one to have Telepathic Implanting, the power of implanting an idea in someone’s head. Not mind control, or hypnotizing, but implanting the idea inside a person, so they thought it was their own. He could also had Hypnosis and Mind Control, but still.  He had been a great superhero, and took down some of the greatest villains of his time.

Then he turned bad.

It took a while to figure out, but Psycho was making a team of all the villains he captured, making them allies, which made them much more dangerous. Of course, it was hard for anyone to find this out, since he could erase the exact thought or memory that led them into knowing what he was doing, being a trained superhero and all. He was able to smash down any knowledge in a person’s brain before it was embedded in their long term memory, which you needed a level 9 superpower to even tamper with, let alone delete a memory from it.. It was only when another super had visited and found out, one that couldn’t have his mind tampered with, had the SSD found out what was really going on. 

And then, of course, everything went to hell.

It was chaos. No one knew who to trust, everyone was turned against each other. The SSD had almost been destroyed, and it was a miracle that the few physic resisting superheros hand managed to take him down. Everyone knew he was going to be taken far, far,  _ far  _ away. Maybe they’d even kill him.

But to everyone’s surprise, Psycho, or a man who looked exactly like him, had turned up a couple weeks later, spouting nonsense and horrible things. The SSD took him in, and told the press repeatedly he had no superpowers at all, and said he must simply be a doppelganger or a twin brother before shipping him off to an asylum. 

So, of course, the rumors started.

The rumors that the SSD had the ability to strip away your powers. To take away your identity. To make you completely normal. That they had taken all supervillains, simply erased their powers and minds and gave them false memories before letting them live a peaceful life as a completely normal citizen with no superpowers whatsoever. 

The SSD had released a statement saying this, of course, was not true, and invited anyone to come over and take a look at their collection of tamed supervillains. 

But Phil didn’t know what to think. He didn’t think that the SSD had done that, of course. He thought maybe they had something, or someone, who could strip a super of their powers, but he didn’t think that they would. Everyone who he had met so far had been super nice, except for the assholes, of course. But still.

The thought of the SSD officers being the nicest people ever reminded Phil of why he was up. He walked towards the door leading to the floor’s first hallway, only momentarily stopping on the outside to glance at his door. For the past six months, the piece of paper underneath a sheet of plastic on the door had read simply Phil Lester. But already, Dan, or someone else, had written ‘and Dan Howell’ underneath his name. 

Phil shut the door and started towards the elevator, turning his thoughts away from the brunette in his-  _ their  _ apartment and to if he could stop by the kitchen for a snack before he went searching for Eric.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still suggest superhero names for Dan, if you want! I'm still open for any!


End file.
